On craftsmanship
Jul. 31st, 2008 10:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gurdymonkey"Duh!" statement of the day: "You have to give the armorers of that time period credit. They did some absolutely fantastic work.. and to get helmets that are THAT detailed..."
Why do you think I've been poring over books and museum sites on the net for weeks looking at Japanese lacquerware and design motifs and agonizing about exactly what is going to go on the sides of a plywood box? For that matter, why is there nothing yet painted on a hiogi I started work on over a year ago?
Granted, the commenter is not, judging by photos posted in the past of her armor/soft kit, the artisan type.
Miyabi.
Wabi sabi.
Attempting to re-create kit for the Japanese part of my game is really, REALLY daunting. If I don't get it right, it's going to be a hack job. I can't apprentice to a master craftsman in Japan and spend years learning a technique, not in this life. In fact, that makes it inevitable that my pitiful imitations must be, by definition, hack jobs.
The reality is I can't get it right - and must find a way to make peace with that.
Why do you think I've been poring over books and museum sites on the net for weeks looking at Japanese lacquerware and design motifs and agonizing about exactly what is going to go on the sides of a plywood box? For that matter, why is there nothing yet painted on a hiogi I started work on over a year ago?
Granted, the commenter is not, judging by photos posted in the past of her armor/soft kit, the artisan type.
Miyabi.
Wabi sabi.
Attempting to re-create kit for the Japanese part of my game is really, REALLY daunting. If I don't get it right, it's going to be a hack job. I can't apprentice to a master craftsman in Japan and spend years learning a technique, not in this life. In fact, that makes it inevitable that my pitiful imitations must be, by definition, hack jobs.
The reality is I can't get it right - and must find a way to make peace with that.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-08-01 08:52 am (UTC)I had a bit of a set-down a few years ago regarding my Japanese calligraphy. I was so proud that I'd sat down and learned the hiragana and was writing some things that looked like the examples. But then I had a chance to take a lesson with a real Japanese calligrapher when I was studying that summer in Beloit, and he totally trashed my efforts. Turned out I wasn't even getting the basic strokes right. He told me I really couldn't progress without studying with a teacher (fat chance finding one in rural Iowa). I was devastated.
But then I realized there's a difference between Japanese and American thinking regarding the arts. It comes up especially in early encounters between the Japanese and Americans (if you ever have the chance, read As We Saw Them). There is an obsession about form in Japan, which often requires studying under a teacher. Whereas in America (no doubt due to the large size of our country--teachers are often hard to come by), there is more of a do-it-yourself mentality when it comes to the arts.
The Japanese know this, and I believe, respect it--especially when the artist is sincere.
So keep trying!
(Sorry about the length)